Reconciled... to Bigotry?

Lots of chatter in the blogosphere today about the Op-Ed piece in Sunday's New York Times, positing a theory of "reconciliation" between the gay and faith communities on the issue of same-sex marriage. David Blankenhorn and Jonathan Rauch, purportedly holding opposing views on same-sex marriage, agreed on a solution: The feds should sanction same-sex marriage and civil unions authorized at the state level, and confer federal rights and benefits of marriage on those relationships, but only if the state in question has a "robust religious-conscience exception" that allows religious organizations to refuse to recognize same-sex relationships.

Yeah? That brings us back to the question of who in good conscience can oppose the desire of two consenting adults to participate in one of the most important -- and, though it's rarely noted in this debate, one of the most conservative -- of society's institutions. It's just hard to buy the notion of a conscientious objector to same-sex marriage, which harms no one.

And then there's this: "It's also important, though, to remember that the tension is not between the gay and the faith communities. The tension is between the community which in fact really is gay, and a pseudo-faith community which has nothing to do with God, love, or anything of real 'faith' and it's really just hypocrisy and hatred. So any faith community that deserves the title 'faith community' really won't have a problem with these issues." So says Sean Penn on Huffington Post on February 20. And if that isn't enough, check out Penn's acceptance speech at the Oscars on February 22. Somehow I don't think that the man who played Milk is buying the reconciliation thing.